June 25, 2011

Report Released

Yesterday, the report from the Standing Commission on Constitution and Canons offering the commission’s views on the canonical changes that will be necessary if The Episcopal Church adopts the Anglican Covenant was released by the church’s Executive Council. I believe it was first posted at The Lead. Episcopal News Service later published a story about the release that included a link to a PDF version of the report.

As one who urged that the report be released, I want to express my gratitude to members of Executive Council for changing their decision not to release the report immediately. I understand there may be some ambivalence about releasing the report—read Mark Harris’s thoughts on his blog—but I do believe that making the report public now was the right thing to do.

Although some people suggested that Executive Council had acted out of less-than-commendable motives, I suspect that (1) release of the report was simply not on Executive Council’s to-do list, and (2) a we’ve-always-done-it-that-way attitude, rooted in pre-Internet procedures, had some influence over the initial decision. It is to be hoped that this incident will result in greater transparency in the governance of The Episcopal Church in the future.

As for the report itself, I have only skimmed it so far. I will have more to say about its substance after I have spent more time reading it and digesting its contents. Meanwhile, I will be thinking kind thoughts about the members of Executive Council.